Everyone drinks beer in January

Who's surprised that the drink tax is on schedule to bring in more money than expected? Not me.

The drink tax has brought in $7.5 Million in the first 3 months of operation. Right on target to pay for the $30 Million it was earmarked to generate. Of course, that's ignoring profits from the car rental tax. That's also ignoring that over 50% of the liquor license holders haven't yet paid for March..

According to Onorato's spokesman, "We don't believe that you can extrapolate the entire year's collection when we are just in the third month." I completely agree. Clearly, the profits from the drink tax will only skyrocket in the coming months. I've rarely seen the South Side bars more crowded than a day last week when the weather was beautiful. People love to go out to the bar in the spring/summer/fall when they can sit outside and enjoy a nice cold beer. Don't even get me started on how Steelers season brings people out to the bar...

So what's going to happen with all this extra money? And what happens to the drink tax next year?

(reference: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08121/877656-85.stm )